We will attempt to develop alternate methods for prenatal diagnosis of the hemoglobinopathies, as we feel that fetal blood analysis has attained its full potential for sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia. We hope to ascertain whether or not it is possible to use DNA sequencing techniques to diagnose sickle cell anemia or beta thalassemia. We are also seeking to determine whether fetal erythroid cells can be sorted out from the maternal circulation. We plan to further define the molecular lesion in alpha thalassemia and hope to completely sequence the beta degree thalassemia globin mRNA to determine why it is nonfunctional. This will help us to understand the relatonship between the structure and function of mRNA.